Windshield washer fluid is a vital motor vehicle fluid which is sold worldwide in vast quantities. The majority of windshield washer fluid is sold in a ready to use form popular with consumers for its convenience, often in containers holding 1 gallon of fluid. However, ready to use windshield washer fluid is heavy, and its transportation consumes significant resources, while the storage of windshield washer fluid containers requires large amounts of space. Furthermore, windshield washer fluid is typically sold in various formulas at different price points, with each formula having a different anti-freeze content and freezing point, requiring manufacturers and merchants to ship and store multiple formulas of windshield washer fluid to suit different consumer needs, seasons, and climates.
Concentrated washer fluid and solid washer fluid tablets alleviate some of the transportation and storage costs associated with ready to use washer fluid, at the expense of consumer convenience. The consumer must dilute the concentrated windshield washer fluid or dissolve the solid tablets using measured amounts of water using a separate container. Other varieties of windshield washer fluid distributed in concentrated or tablet form are meant to be mixed directly in the washer fluid tank of an automobile, leading to potential problems involving improper dilution such as clogging caused by undissolved particles. Furthermore, many windshield washer fluids sold in concentrated or tablet form do not contain anti-freeze, requiring consumers to add in the appropriate amount of anti-freeze separately, resulting in unexpected freezing of the windshield washer fluid caused by improper addition of the anti-freeze component.
A need therefore exists for a single container capable of transporting, mixing, and diluting a windshield washer fluid concentrate, and then dispensing the resultant windshield washer fluid, which address the transportation and storage costs of ready to use windshield washer fluid as well as the inconvenience and risk of improper dilution of windshield washer fluid in concentrated and tablet form.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.